238 
ALPINES. 
ALPINES. 
It is pleasing to the admirer of native and unadorned beauty 
to observe the increasing spread of these lovely little plants 
through establishments of every grade ; those who, a few years 
since, when alpines were confined to the botanical collection, 
affected an indifference towards such humble forms, are now 
among the most earnest in their searches for the little curiosities, 
and other new cultivators have arisen who seem determined to do 
justice to their merits: the latter class are considerably on the 
increase at the present time, and a few short hints as to the 
requisite management may to them be acceptable ; they are, 
therefore, offered in a spirit of common fellowship by an ardent 
amateur of the class, who, at his commencement, severely felt the 
absence of helping advice, through the want of an accessible 
medium. 
It is a singular anomaly in the physiological character of this 
family, that, though natives of the mountainous districts of 
Europe, children of the free air, and naturally recipients of 
strong unobstructed light, they are also, with but few exceptions, 
among the easiest to be cultivated in the very opposite atmo¬ 
sphere of a suburban situation ; their organization appears suited 
to any extreme, and this provision renders them so desirable, 
that it is no longer a marvel their adoption should be extending ; 
indeed, it appears quite possible to select a considerable number 
which would be found to thrive even in the heart of the most 
populous city. 
Alpine plants, in a state of nature, are subject to great atmo¬ 
spheric fluctuations, their only hold, it may be of an impenetrable 
rock, is the small quantity of debris carried by rain torrents into 
a little cavity, where the plant afterwards springs up and fixes 
its firm hold ; in such a position it is evidently liable to periodical 
and perhaps excessive drought, but can never suffer from stagnate 
moisture ; from this circumstance is to be derived a knowledge 
of the almost only particular point in their culture. In potting, 
a stratum of nearly a third the depth of the pot should be filled 
with sherds, stones, or other material that will drain the super¬ 
incumbent earth, and with the latter, to ensure its porosity. 
